Do you feel empty sometimes? That no matter what you do, whether something exciting or not, there is still a lingering feeling of emptiness?

I have been feeling like I’m stuck in a void of emptiness lately no matter how faithful I have been to my prayer time, how much progress I make in my work or in my project, or how exciting my activities have been.

Today, I want to share with you three of how we can fill this void. It’s a simple reminder that you probably already know.

First, you fill the void with love. You fill it with the love you get from other people. More importantly, you fill it with God’s love.

Second, you can also fill it with gratitude.

However, we don’t always receive love from other people. There are times when people are too busy to explicitly express their love to us. Making people love us or express their love for us is beyond our control. And so, we become wanting. Worse, we become empty.

Our humanity also makes it difficult for us (or, at least, for me) to always remain faithful to God’s love. It’s not always easy to believe how much He loves us. Especially when we sin or fall short of obeying His will. And many of us have not reached the level of gratefulness where we can be thankful even for the most mundane of things, let alone our challenges.

Fortunately for us, there’s a third way. And this third way is under our control. We can fill the void of emptiness by emptying ourselves for others. I really believe that love begets love. The more love we give, the more love we receive. The more outward-focused our lives become, the better our inner lives also become. And our love for God and our prayers to Him are physically manifested in the love we give to others. The Catechism of the Catholic Church even tells us that the works and ministry of Jesus are the visible manifestation of His prayers to the Father in secret. Loving others, especially the less privileged, also helps us become grateful for the things we take for granted.